UK Autistic Man Hacked Nasa
July 31, 2009 - 2:51pm
" Friday, Britain's High Court declined the autistic British man's appeal not to be extradited to the US to face trial for hacking into military computers. The Court ruled that Gary McKinnon should face the extradition, moreover Judge Stanley Burnton said in his 41-page ruling that extradition was "a lawful and proportionate response to his offending." He also said the case should be dealt with "as expeditiously as possible," and McKinnon could be extradited by September.
Previously, McKinnon was fighting a long legal battle to avoid extradition to the US after he was charged with breaking into 97 computers belonging to NASA, the US Department of Defense and several US military branches soon after the terrorist attacks, September, 11, 2001. In order to avoid facing a US trial, McKinnon offered to plead guilty to a criminal charge in Britain earlier this year.
McKinnon's lawyers and 40 lawmakers have written applications to President Barack Obama trying to get permission not to be extradited.
McKinnon's family and supporters are trying to prevent the extradition, claiming convict has Asperger's syndrome, a form of autism, so he could be at risk of psychosis or suicide being sent to the US.
The Crown Prosecution Service ruled, however, that the case was best prosecuted in the US, leading his attorney Edward Fitzgerald to argue that the service had failed to take account of humanitarian factors.
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Source: A UK autistic man that hacked 97 NASA computers will be extradited to US
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